Former East German Football International Eberhard Vogel Dies at 83

Eberhard Vogel, remembered as a world-class left winger for FC Karl-Marx-Stadt and FC Carl Zeiss Jena, has died at the age of 83. His family said he died on Tuesday after a long illness.

Vogel remains a record-holder in the East German league, where he played 440 matches. His 188 league goals rank second on the competition’s all-time scoring list, behind Joachim Streich’s 229.

“ He was a gifted striker who could have played in any world-class team,” former teammate and later coach Hans Meyer said. “The way he interpreted the left-wing position would have been worthy of instructional films.”

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He was a gifted striker who could have played in any world-class team.

Vogel won the East German championship with Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1967 and three FDGB Cups with Jena, in 1972, 1974 and 1980. He earned 74 appearances for the East German national team and scored 25 goals. He also played 24 matches for the Olympic selection, scoring 10 times, and won Olympic bronze in 1964 and 1972.

In 1981, Vogel reached the European Cup Winners’ Cup final with Jena, which lost 2-1 to Dynamo Tbilisi. He was also part of East Germany’s 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany, although he did not play in the team’s famous 1-0 victory over Franz Beckenbauer’s side.

After retiring as a player, Vogel worked for the East German football association from 1983 to 1990. As a coach, he led a junior team featuring Matthias Sammer to the 1986 European title, won third place at the Under-20 World Cup the following year and guided the Under-16 team to European silver in 1989. He later served as assistant coach of the final East German national team and held a series of short club and national-team coaching posts after reunification.

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The way he interpreted the left-wing position would have been worthy of instructional films.